Hip Stretches

Hip Stretches
Lunch today was filled with vegetables! What? You don’t see them? There we go! Now they’re peaking out a bit! I’m a little over a week into my Green Giant Veg Pledge mission and, after a veggie-filled morning snack (red pepper + hummus), I wanted to keep the momentum going this afternoon. I prepared a batch of roasted Brussels sprouts and roasted green beans by tossing the vegetables in olive oil and roasting them at 450 for about 15 minutes (higher heat than normal because I was impatient). On top of the vegetables, I placed two dippy eggs which I enjoyed along with a whole wheat waffle topped with muenster cheese. If you love dippy eggs and roasted vegetables, I have a feeling this combination will be right up your alley. The yolks act as a pseudo-sauce over the vegetables and taste fantastic! I rounded out the meal with a little unsweetened applesauce. Now let’s discuss pain and stretching. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Hip Stretches Every time I mention that I previously struggled with some intense hip pain in the form of hip bursitis on the blog, I inevitably receive comments and emails asking me about the stretches I now do to try to proactively prevent hip pain. Apparently the hips give a lot of us issues, huh!? I first experienced hip pain in college and saw a doctor on campus. I was prescribed steroids and told not to run or walk a lot (if I could help it) or do any kind of exercise that involved my hips for months. After about a month I was so, so unhappy. The pain was still very much there. I couldn’t even go for a walk without pain and made an appointment to see a different doctor – one who specialized in sports medicine and is the doctor for a bunch of the players from the Tampa Bay Bucs football team. He took me off the steroids and taught me a ton of different hip stretches. Stretching made a huge difference for me. I never really knew how to target my hips and deeply stretch them out, so taking care to do this really improved my pain. (Side note: If you’re currently struggling with an injury or roadblock in your fitness routine, you may enjoy this previous post: Staying Positive Through an Exercise Setback.) I still get a dull pain in my hips when I run longer distances (or lay on my side all night in bed), but it’s not every time and it’s not really that bad. I take a lot of care to stretch my hips and give them a lot of attention on days when I run. I also stretch my hips randomly when I’m hanging out at home watching TV or when I feel a little tight. Hip stretches feel so good to me and I always feel better after taking the time to give my hips a little extra love. Since some of you seemed interested in my favorite hip stretches, I compiled a bunch of my favorites below. Each stretch is hyperlinked above the picture so you may click on the link for a more detailed description of the stretch. For those of you who couldn’t care less about hip stretches, I inserted one faux-stretch so you can play a rousing game of “Can You Spot the Imposter?” Pigeon Pose Lying Hip and Glute Stretch Butterfly Stretch Spread Eagle Crossover Stretch Seated Hip Stretch Original article and pictures take http://www.pbfingers.com/2012/04/04/hip-stretches/ site